Welcome to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew informs and entertains you with this week's news about science, space, and the environment. In keeping with the theme of the past five months, Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday is featuring science and other news from the major public research universities in the midwestern states where Republican governors and legislatures are threatening the collective bargaining rights of public employees.
In keeping with the both the general theme of the year so far as well as the theme for this weekend, here are stories about how scientists at these midwestern universities are informing the general public about the Independence Day weekend.
University of Wisconsin: UW experts available to media regarding Independence Day
June 28, 2011
As the United States marks its 235th birthday, the University of Wisconsin-Madison has a number of experts who can discuss fireworks, safety, the history behind it and why Independence Day is least likely to rank as your pet's favorite holiday.
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Safety First
In 2009, U.S. hospital emergency rooms treated an estimated 8,800 people for fireworks related injuries and more than one-fourth of those were to the eyes. Heather Potter, a comprehensive ophthalmologist with UW Health, can discuss the types of injuries fireworks cause.
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Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death and disability among children ages 1-14. Nicole Vesely, coordinator for Madison Area Safe Kids Coalition at American Family Children's Hospital can discuss tips for keeping sparklers, firecrackers and other amusements from leading to a trip to the emergency room.
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Fido's Fears
While the snap, crackle and pop of Independence Day leaves people oohing and aahhing, it scares the wits out of some household pets. Dogs, on hearing fireworks, can tear up a room beyond recognition. Worse, frightened pets may get lost or get hit by a car if they run into the street. UW-Madison veterinarian Sandi Sawchuck, an expert in small animal behavior, can discuss this phenomenon.
University of Wisconsin: Fireworks show a backdrop for fabulous science lessons
by David Tenenbaum
June 29, 2011
Renowned science educator Bassam Shakhashiri will take the stage on the Memorial Union Terrace Saturday, July 2 to give his annual "The Science of Fireworks" presentation.
Shakhashiri, the William T. Evjue Distinguished Chair for the Wisconsin Idea and a professor of chemistry, plans to use the universal wonderment with fireworks as a platform to share the joy of chemistry.
"It's fascinating how human beings are attracted to rapid color changes and loud noises, even though animals are usually adversely affected, frightened, by them. Rhythm and Booms, which we'll watch across the lake after the talk, is a marvelous opportunity for people to gather and enjoy a vivid display of colors and sounds, and learn about chemistry," he says.
The technology of fireworks, pioneered in China, contributed to the development of the science of chemistry, Shakhashiri says.
Wayne State University: Wayne State University researcher offers tips for 4th of July picnics
Keep it safe and make it healthy
June 30, 2011
Tonia Reinhard, director of Wayne State University's Coordinated Program in Dietetics in the Department of Nutrition & Food Science in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, offers the following suggestions for keeping 4th of July picnics safe and healthy.
Here's to a safe and healthy 4th of July!
More after the jump.
Recent Science Diaries and Stories
Watch this space!
Climate of Harassment
by tomasyn
Skeptics of Global Climate Change Gather At Fake Conference
by Hugh Jim Bissell
Update: Viewing Heavenly Bodies
by Jim in IA
The Daily Bucket - mystery stuff
by bwren
This week in science
by DarkSyde
After Lyme Disease Explained
by OHdog
Slideshows/Videos
The University of Michigan was very busy posting videos this week. Following are a selection of those that are about science, health, environment, and technology. Non-science research videos are in the tip jar. First up, three videos about health care reform.
Next, stem cell research.
U of M Stem cell researcher Sean Morrison discusses the importance of his research and the impact of policy on his field.
Next, a video about urban environments and disability.
Video slideshow with narration by Clarke
Disability is about the gap between a person's needs and the ability of their environment to provide them.
And last in this series of videos not associated with articles, a video about autism.
Video on U-M's autism clinic
This movie shows an RNA molecule from the HIV genome (HIV-1 TAR) visualized at atomic resolution. HIV-1 TAR is a highly studied drug target. This animation represents the first time that experimentally validated, large-amplitude motions can be visualized at atomic scale.
This movie provides new insights into the mechanics of RNA motion by showing how the shape of the HIV-1 TAR molecule changes when a connector linking two helices is shortened.
University of Michigan:
Hitting moving RNA drug targets
June 26, 2011
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—By accounting for the floppy, fickle nature of RNA, researchers at the University of Michigan and the University of California, Irvine have developed a new way to search for drugs that target this important molecule. Their work appears in the June 26 issue of Nature Chemical Biology.
Once thought to be a passive carrier of genetic information, RNA now is understood to perform a number of other vital roles in the cell, and its malfunction can lead to disease. The versatile molecule also is essential to retroviruses such as HIV, which have no DNA and instead rely on RNA to both transport and execute genetic instructions for everything the virus needs to invade and hijack its host. As more and more links to disease are discovered, the quest for drugs that target RNA is intensifying.
Searching for such drugs is not a simple matter, however. Most of today's drug-hunting tools are designed to find small molecules that bind to protein targets, but RNA is not a protein, and it differs from proteins in many key features. "So there's a growing need for high-throughput technologies that can identify compounds that bind RNA," said Hashim M. Al-Hashimi, the Robert L. Kuczkowski Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Biophysics at U-M.
Even after adding the two clips in the tip jar, I still left out more than half of the videos posted this past week. Busy, indeed!
U of M wasn't the only local institution busy posting videos. MSU did their share as well
Sheng Yang He, professor at the Plant Research Laboratory, talks about a national honor he recently received and his work studying how plants become susceptible to disease.
Michigan State University:
Faculty conversations: Sheng Yang He
Sheng Yang He’s ground breaking work of studying how plants become susceptible to disease recently garnered him the honor of being one of the nation’s most innovative researchers.
He, a professor at the Plant Research Laboratory in the College of Natural Science, was named a Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Investigator along with 14 other researchers nationwide, as part of a $75 million new plant science initiative. He's salary, benefits and research expenses for the next five years or longer will be covered.
The application process to become a HHMI-GBMF Investigator is quite unique, He said.
Yeah, that's what He said. Sorry, I couldn't resist. :-)
A program at MSU shows students how to create everything from spirits to polymers, distilling knowledge that could lead to a very cool job down the road.
Had enough? Yes? Too bad. This section would not be complete without an update from NASA Television.
STS-135, the final mission of the Space Shuttle Program, is detailed in this overview of Atlantis' flight to the International Space Station targeted to launch on July 8. Commander Chris Ferguson; Pilot Doug Hurley; and mission specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim Engineers want to understand why the pump failed and improve designs for future spacecraft. This is the final flight for shuttle Atlantis and the Space Shuttle Program. NASA's workhorses for the past 30 years have completed their mission to build and supply the orbiting outpost, and the agency is now looking to destinations beyond low-Earth orbit.
Now the section is complete!
Astronomy/Space
Science News: Most distant quasar raises questions
Extreme age challenges theories of black hole formation
By Nadia Drake
Web edition : Wednesday, June 29th, 2011
Astronomers peering at the early universe have glimpsed the most distant quasar yet. Powered by a black hole of 2 billion solar masses, the quasar appears as it did 12.9 billion years ago, when the universe as humans know it was just beginning to emerge from the Big Bang.
The supermassive black hole is pulling enormous clumps of matter into its gravitational clutches. As a result, the quasar emits 60 trillion times as much light as the sun, an international team reports in the June 30 Nature.
The team identified the object from the U.K. Infrared Telescope’s Infrared Deep Sky Survey, which probes 5 percent of the sky in infrared wavelengths. Daniel Mortlock of Imperial College London, an author of the study, likens the process to panning for gold. “You see many shiny things in the infrared, but not all of them are nuggets,” he says. “We got a big nugget this time.”
Science News: A fine how-do-you-do from an asteroid
Five days after being discovered, an interplanetary visitor whizzes past
By Camille M. Carlisle
Web edition : Monday, June 27th, 2011
A shudder of air and a quick streak of light were the only signs of an asteroid’s near-Earth flyby on June 27. Asteroid 2011 MD isn’t this year’s closest approach by a near-Earth object, nor is it the largest (a 400-meter-wide boulder is expected to pass within the moon’s orbit in November). What got the Internet buzzing was that 2011 MD was discovered only five days before its flyby.
Frankly, there’s enough space junk out there that a five-day lead time is pretty good: a 2008 asteroid that actually exploded over Sudan was ID-ed less than 24 hours before it littered debris across the Nubian desert. This time around, the last-minute RSVP only whizzed past, zipping a safe 12,300 kilometers (about 7,640 miles) above South Atlantic at about 1 p.m. EDT. That’s below geosynchronous satellites but still far above satellites in polar orbit (850 km) and the International Space Station (400 km).
Indiana University: STAR TRAK
Mercury first planet to be seen through most of July
June 30, 2011
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- For the first three weeks of July, the first planet to appear in the evening sky will be Mercury, visible near the west-northwestern horizon around 45 minutes after sunset. After that, the planet will rapidly fade as it disappears into the glow of twilight. On the evening of July 6, Mercury will pass through the Beehive star cluster, but only viewers to the south will have a good chance to see this, even with binoculars.
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The southern branch of the Delta Aquarid meteor shower will peak before dawn on July 30, when the new moon will offer ideal viewing conditions. Meteors will appear several nights before and after the peak as well. The long bright streaks will seem to come from a point in the constellation Aquarius the Water-bearer in the southern sky during the hours just before morning twilight. In a dark sky there may be as many as 20 meteors per hour at the peak.
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On July 4, Earth will reach its greatest distance from the sun for the year, called aphelion. Those sweltering in summer heat in the Northern Hemisphere may find it hard to believe that they are about 3 percent farther from the sun than they were in January. Those experiencing winter in the Southern Hemisphere will be easier to convince. The difference is caused by the tilt of Earth's axis. The part of the planet tilted toward the sun is much warmer than the part tilted away, because more sunlight reaches the ground instead of being absorbed by the atmosphere.
University of Wisconsin: UW-Madison undergrads win NASA habitat design competition
“This is a great example of how NASA can obtain innovative system concepts from universities. These technology concepts are a valuable part of our human space exploration planning activities.”--Doug Craig, strategic analysis manager for analog systems at NASA
by Renee Meiller
July 1, 2011
It's an inflatable home fit for an asteroid: Designing a prototype habitat that looks like a giant tent for the next generation of space explorers, an interdisciplinary team of UW-Madison undergraduate students has won the NASA eXploration Habitat Academic Innovation Challenge.
The competition charges university teams to design and rapidly develop inflatable, habitable spaces NASA can integrate onto an existing demonstration laboratory. In September 2010, NASA named the UW-Madison Badger X-Loft team a finalist in the competition, along with teams from Oklahoma State University and the University of Maryland. The National Space Grant Foundation awarded each finalist initial funding of $48,000.
The UW-Madison team deployed and displayed its prototype at the NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, June 20 through 24. For its win, the team receives an additional $10,000 and several members will spend September in Arizona, where they will test their habitat as part of a simulated astronaut mission to an asteroid in the annual NASA Desert Research and Technology Studies (Desert-RATS) field test.
Evolution/Paleontology
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Fossils show early creatures saw better than thought
Updated Thu Jun 30, 2011 9:57am AEST
Scientists say fossilised eyes found on Kangaroo Island in South Australia show some early creatures had much better vision than previously thought.
The eyes are thought to be more than 500 million years old.
The scientists say no others from the same era have been found elsewhere in the world.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for this story.
Michigan State University: Mutations help organisms become kings of the mountain
June 30, 2011
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Evolutionary adaptation is often compared to climbing a hill, and organisms making the right combination of multiple mutations – both good and bad – can become the king of the mountain.
A new study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of London by BEACON researchers at Michigan State University suggests that the combined effect of multiple mutations working together can speed up this process. Through computer simulations, researchers at BEACON, a National Science Foundation-funded Science and Technology Center at MSU, were able to watch evolution play out and see how populations use these combinations to evolve from one adaptive state to another.
Traditional molecular biology approaches allow researchers to look only at so many genes at once. In comparison, computer simulations can process a bigger set of mutations and analyze them consecutively, offering a much more complex and more realistic view of how evolution works in real life, said Bjorn Ostman, postdoctoral researcher at BEACON.
Biodiversity
Purdue University: City officials discover emerald ash borer in Lafayette
June 29, 2011
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The destructive emerald ash borer has been confirmed in Lafayette by a Purdue entomologist, the city forester and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
The invasive insect that destroys ash trees was first found in Tippecanoe County near Americus last year, but city forester Belinda Kiger said this latest confirmed find is the first inside Lafayette city limits.
"Finding the emerald ash borer was not necessarily a surprise," Kiger said. "It wasn't a matter of whether or not we'd find it, but rather a matter of when."
Michigan State University: Time to let science drive Great Lakes policy on Asian carp
July 1, 2011
EAST LANSING, Mich. — The threat Asian carp pose to the Great Lakes community may be politically controversial, but pales in comparison to the costs and danger of continuing to wring hands over established facts. It’s time to let science drive policy and put knowledge into action, says a Michigan State University fisheries expert.
“You know it’s big when academics and the management community say we don’t need five more years of study,” said Bill Taylor, University Distinguished professor in global fisheries sustainability at MSU and a member of MSU’s Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability. “The costs of hydrological separation are high, but it’s a one-time expense and remediation in the Great Lakes from these invasive species will eventually make separation look cheap.”
Taylor is one of four Great Lakes and Mississippi River researchers publishing a paper that breaks down four recent assertions that downplay the threat of the invasive Asian carp and questions the need to investigate ways to physically separate the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins to prevent the further spread of harmful nonnative species.
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The authors conclude that the threats posed by the Asian carp and other invasive species remain high and warrant action to prevent further ecological and economic harm to the Great Lakes ecosystem.
Biotechnology/Health
University of Michigan: Preventing diabetes damage: Zinc's effects on a kinky, two-faced cohort
June 30, 2011
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—In type 2 diabetes, a protein called amylin forms dense clumps that shut down insulin-producing cells, wreaking havoc on the control of blood sugar. But zinc has a knack for preventing amylin from misbehaving.
Recent research at the University of Michigan offers new details about how zinc performs this "security guard" function. The findings appear in the July 8 issue of the Journal of Molecular Biology.
Amylin is something of a two-faced character. In healthy people who have normal levels of zinc in the insulin-producing islet cells of the pancreas, amylin actually pitches in to help with blood sugar regulation, says Ayyalusamy Ramamoorthy, a U-M professor of chemistry and of biophysics in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. In fact, an analog of amylin called Symlin is used in conjunction with insulin to manage blood sugar levels in diabetics.
Wayne State University: Health providers should emphasize breast cancer screening, Wayne State University research finds
June 29, 2011
DETROIT - Wayne State University researchers believe medical practitioners can help reduce the number of breast cancer deaths among low-income African-American women by more effectively educating their patients about the importance of mammography screening.
In a study published this month in the Journal of Cancer Education, Rosalie Young, Ph.D., associate professor; Kendra Schwartz, M.D., M.S.P.H., interim chair; and Jason Booza, Ph. D., assistant professor, all from the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences in WSU's School of Medicine, examined clinical, structural and personal barriers known to prevent such women from having mammograms. Overcoming those barriers is important, the researchers said, because of higher mortality rates for African-American women than other groups. In 2007, Detroit statistics showed a rate of approximately 35 deaths per 100,000 among African-American women versus about 26 deaths per 100,000 for white women.
Between 2004 and 2007, WSU researchers randomly surveyed 178 African-American women age 40 or older from a high cancer-risk area of Detroit. They found that all three barrier types were strongly associated with a lack of breast cancer screening.
Purdue University: Got research? Camp Calcium celebrates 20 years
June 27, 2011
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue University's Camp Calcium, the primary source of research for today's calcium guidelines for teens, is celebrating its 20th year.
"The research from this camp has determined the optimal calcium intake - 1,300 milligrams - for healthy bone mass, and this information is used to set calcium requirements for North America and the national recommended dietary guidelines in adolescents," said Connie Weaver, distinguished professor and head of foods and nutrition. "In 20 years, we have learned that women need to consume calcium at a young age to maintain healthy bones as an adult, as well as the role sodium and obesity can play in bone health. Thanks to the 381 young teenage girls and boys who have participated in the 11 camps, we have a tremendous understanding of calcium and bone health."
The camps started 20 years ago when Weaver, who was studying mineral absorption, wanted to know more about calcium in young people and specifically how diet could improve calcium retention. A reunion was held Saturday (June 25) for former campers and workers.
Climate/Environment
Ohio State University: DOWN-UNDER DIGESTIVE MICROBES COULD HELP LOWER METHANE GAS FROM LIVESTOCK
June 29, 2011
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The discovery that a bacterial species in the Australian Tammar wallaby gut is responsible for keeping the animal’s methane emissions relatively low suggests a potential new strategy may exist to try to reduce methane emissions from livestock, according to a new study.
Globally, livestock are the largest source of methane from human-related activities, and are the third-largest source of this greenhouse gas in the United States, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Wallabies and other marsupials – mammals like the kangaroo that develop their offspring in a pouch – are dependent on microbes to support their digestive system, similar to livestock such as cows, sheep and goats, but Tammar wallabies are known to release about 80 percent less methane gas per unit of digestible energy intake than do livestock animals.
Purdue University: Grant will help farmers deal with changes to climates
June 28, 2011
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue University researchers will get a $5 million grant to develop decision-support tools to help corn and soybean growers adapt their practices to changes in climate.
"Today's agricultural producers are able to grow more food on fewer acres of land to sustain a growing population," said Purdue President France A. Córdova. "Successfully meeting this challenge has been due to the industry's willingness to adopt new practices. This project will provide the technologies producers will need in the face of a changing world to plan for, and adapt to, climatic shifts."
Linda Prokopy, an associate professor of forestry and natural resources, will lead researchers affiliated with the Purdue Climate Change Research Center in the five-year project. The research is funded by the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
Purdue University: Indiana produce unlikely ready for July 4 holiday celebrations
June 28, 2011
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — After months of wet weather, Purdue Extension experts say melons, sweet corn and other Indiana-grown produce may not be ready for Independence Day barbecues.
Sweet corn usually can be harvested by mid-June, cantaloupes are usually ready by late-June and watermelons mid-July, said Purdue Extension produce specialist Dan Egel. But this year's heavy rains and cool spring weather delayed crops anywhere from 10 days to two weeks.
"I haven't heard of any farmers harvesting sweet corn yet, which is very unusual," Egel said. "The temperature the next few weeks will be important, but consumers looking for locally grown products will probably have to wait until later in July."
Despite the expected delay in harvest, he said yields should remain around the state's per-acre averages of 45,000 pounds for watermelon, 17,000 pounds for cantaloupe and 9,200 pounds for sweet corn.
Egel said the weather would not diminish produce quality.
Indiana University: Sustainability research grants focus on distributed energy, tree canopy conservation
June 28, 2011
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Indiana University Office of Sustainability today announced the recipients of the Sustainability Research Development Grants for the 2011-12 academic year. Two teams of Indiana University faculty and graduate students will explore the conditions for successful implementation of low-carbon distributed energy programs in developing countries and the use of policy tools to promote protection, conservation and development of the urban tree canopy.
The grant program, jointly sponsored by the University Graduate School, the College of Arts & Sciences, the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, the Center for Research on Energy & the Environment, the Center for Research in Environmental Sciences and the IU Office of Sustainability, provides opportunities for faculty members and students to develop externally funded research related to environmental sustainability.
"The University Graduate School is pleased to support the Sustainability Research Development Grants for another year because the funding provides a golden opportunity for research in a burgeoning field of societal importance while also financially supporting graduate students with their research and training," said Dean of the Graduate School James Wimbush. "Last year we were thrilled with the level of enthusiasm these grants generated, especially the quality of the proposals submitted. We look forward to another successful round of competition, and to the research and support for graduate students that stem from it."
Geology
Discovery News:
Human activities generate more of the greenhouse gas in under three days than volcanoes do in a year.
By Jessica Marshall
June 27, 2011
Colossal, mind-bogglingly hot and capable of spewing billowing clouds of flight-grounding smoke and searing, molten lava, volcanoes are spectacular displays of the massive forces at work inside our planet. Yet they are dwarfed by humans in at least one respect: their carbon dioxide emissions.
Despite statements made by climate change deniers, volcanoes release a tiny fraction of the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by human activities every year.
In fact, humans release roughly 135 times more carbon dioxide annually than volcanoes do, on average, according a new analysis. Put another way, humans emit in under three days the amount that volcanoes typically release in a year, according to the best estimates of volcanic emissions.
Discovery News: Smaller Salton Sea Silences Seismic Shocks
by Tim Wall
June 29, 2011
Diverting the Colorado River took a load off the faults that run underneath California, literally.
In the past, the Salton Sea in Southern California periodically flooded, which may have caused small “stepover” faults beneath the Sea to trigger the much larger San Andreas Fault.
The smaller faults run perpendicular to the San Andreas Fault, and when then rupture, they can have a domino effect on the San Andreas causing it to unleash massive quakes. The first domino in the line may have been the flooding of the Salton Sea in the past. But a study published recently in Nature Geoscience suggests human use of the water may have removed that domino.
Psychology/Behavior
MSNBC: Get a whiff of this: Scents affect thoughts and behavior
Plenty of research now digging into science of smells and our environment
"The floral odors can make you happy, floral odors promote social interaction, social approach kinds of behaviors," one researcher says.
By Jennifer Welsh
WASHINGTON — Suit pressed, mind ready and resume in hand. When preparing for a job interview, most people take every precaution to convey the best impression possible. But aside from body odor, not many people pay attention to the odors that surround them.
That onion-laden lunch could give your potential boss-to-be the wrong impression, according to new research presented in May at the Association for Psychological Science annual meeting.
"There's a lot of research that's begun now, where people are looking at how the environment affects our well-being," said Jeannette Haviland-Jones, of Rutgers University in New Jersey. "We tend to think of ourselves as separate from the environment, but we're not. We create our environment."
Hers and others' research is showing that smell can influence our thoughts and behaviors more expected.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for this story.
University of Michigan: Class in session: Upper middle class preschoolers silence less fortunate peers
June 29, 2011
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Preschool upper middle class children tend to ask for help and argue their points effectively--sometimes to the detriment of their classmates from working class families.
A new University of Michigan study finds that 4-year-old, upper middle class kids use their strong verbal skills to engage teachers in more conversations and to draw upon reasoning that appears to be fair to get their way. This behavior often silences working class children who feel less confident or willing to express their views, thus giving them less power and fewer opportunities to develop their own language skills.
The study's author Jessi Streib, a graduate student in the U-M Department of Sociology, defined the children as upper middle class if their parents were college educated and worked in occupations such as upper level managers, doctors, engineers and professors. Working class parents were construction workers, short-order cooks or were temporarily unemployed, and did not have four-year college degrees.
Class distinctions and advantages begin early. I also posted this article on
ontd_political on LiveJournal, where it has already received comments.
Wayne State University: Religion benefits traumatic brain injury victims, Wayne State University research finds
June 27, 2011
DETROIT - Brigid Waldron-Perrine, Ph.D., a recent graduate from Wayne State University, and her mentor, Lisa J. Rapport, Ph.D., professor of psychology at Wayne State University's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, found that if traumatic brain injury (TBI) victims feel close to a higher power, it can help them rehabilitate. The study was recently published in Rehabilitation Psychology.
Traumatic brain injury is a disruption of normal brain function after a head injury and affects 1.7 million Americans annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those struggling with the long-term effects of TBI are at a heightened risk for mental and physical problems. Such problems can significantly inhibit rehabilitation outcomes and are therefore important to address in the context of rehabilitation efforts. And when TBI leaves people feeling stressed, less satisfied with life and functionally dependent on others, rehabilitation is the only option.
"Among healthy adults, religion and spirituality have shown strong association with improved life satisfaction and physical and mental health outcomes," said Waldron-Perrine. But research about religion's effect on TBI rehabilitation in particular is lacking.
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Waldron-Perrine found that most participants who reported higher levels of religious well-being (a connection to a higher power) had better emotional and physical rehabilitation outcomes. But public religious activities or practice and existential well-being - a sense that life has a purpose apart from any religious reference - did not have such an effect influence on rehabilitation outcome.
University of Wisconsin: Natural Estrogen May Improve Cognition for Alzheimer's Disease Patients
Video: Whitney Wharton talks about current hormone therapy research.
July 1, 2011
Madison, Wisconsin - Post-menopausal women who had mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease and who wore a skin patch with natural estrogen for three months did better on cognitive tests than women who did not wear the patch, according to new findings by the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH).
The findings are published as an early online version of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and are scheduled for publication in the September issue.
"The study shows that using a natural form of estrogen called estradiol, for short periods of time, may be cognitively beneficial for post-menopausal women with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease," said Whitney Wharton, lead author and researcher at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health's Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC).
Ohio State University: STUDY HELPS EXPLAIN ‘SUNDOWNING,’ AN ANXIETY SYNDROME IN ELDERLY DEMENTIA PATIENTS
June 27, 2011
COLUMBUS, Ohio – New research provides the best evidence to date that the late-day anxiety and agitation sometimes seen in older institutionalized adults, especially those with dementia, has a biological basis in the brain.
The findings could help explain “sundowning,” a syndrome in which older adults show high levels of anxiety, agitation, general activity and delirium in late afternoon and evening, before they would normally go to bed.
“It’s a big problem for caregivers. Patients can get aggressive and very disruptive,” said Tracy Bedrosian, lead author of the study and a doctoral student in neuroscience at Ohio State University.
“There have been a few clinical studies documenting sundowning, but until now there hasn’t been research in animals to see what’s going on in the brain to explain this.”
The new study found that aged mice showed significantly more activity and more anxiety-like behaviors in the hours before they would normally sleep when compared to middle-aged mice – just like sundowning in humans.
Archeology/Anthropology
Art Daily: Ossuary Belonging to a Daughter of the Caiaphas Family of High Priests Discovered
JERUSALEM.- Three years ago the Israel Antiquities Authority Unit for the Prevention of Antiquities Robbery acquired a decorated ossuary bearing an engraved inscription. The ossuary was discovered by antiquities robbers who plundered an ancient Jewish tomb of the Second Temple period. During the course of the investigation it was determined that the ossuary came from a burial cave in the area of the Valley of ’Elah, in the Judean Shephelah.
To check the authenticity of the artifact and the significance of the engraved inscription, the Israel Antiquities Authority turned to Dr. Boaz Zissu of the Department of the Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology of Bar Ilan University and Professor Yuval Goren of the Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations of the Tel Aviv University.
BBC: India: Treasure unearthed in Kerala temple
By Ashraf Padanna Kochi
Treasure, thought to be worth billions of rupees, has been unearthed from secret underground chambers in a temple in the southern Indian state of Kerala.
Precious stones, gold and silver are among valuables found at Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple.
The riches are thought to have been languishing in the temple vaults for more than a century, interred by the Maharajahs of Travancore over time.
They have not been officially valued and inspectors are taking an inventory.
Inspectors say they will continue cataloguing the treasure for at least one more week.
Unofficial estimates say that the treasure discovered so far over four days of inspections may be valued at more than 25 billion rupees ($500m). But historians say that assessing the true value of these objects is likely to be extremely difficult.
Edinburgh News via The Scotsman: Dig finds treasured tools of leading 18th century scientist
Published Date: 28 June 2011
By VICTORIA RAIMES
SCIENTIFIC equipment dating back to the 18th century and believed to have been owned by a leading Enlightenment figure has been uncovered in an archaeological dig at the University of Edinburgh.
The items uncovered include laboratory apparatus and brightly coloured chemicals, which were almost certainly the property of Joseph Black, a professor of chemistry best known for his discovery of carbon dioxide gas.
The Canadian Press via Yahoo! News Canada: Search continues in Canada's North for lost ships of Franklin expedition
By Steve Rennie, The Canadian Press | The Canadian Press – Thu, 30 Jun, 2011
OTTAWA - The search continues for the lost Franklin ships.
Archaeologists will scour frigid Arctic waters this summer for polar explorer Sir John Franklin's lost ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror.
The Erebus and Terror have been lost to the icy depths of the Canadian North since 1845 when Franklin and his men got trapped in the ice in their quest for the Northwest Passage.
Franklin's doomed search was considered a state-of-the-art expedition by the British admiralty. Many British and American ships set sail in search of the Erebus and Terror.
But the ships have never been found.
Irish Times: Donegal bog gives up the secrets of Spitfire that crashed 70 years ago
LINDA McGRORY in Moneydarragh, Co Donegal
THE WRECKAGE of a Spitfire fighter aircraft, including its Rolls Royce Merlin engine, has been dug from a peat bog 70 years after it crashed in neutral Irish territory during the second World War.
The excavation, at Moneydarragh, Co Donegal, yesterday was the latest chapter in the story of American pilot Roland “Bud” Wolfe, who parachuted from the aircraft into a diplomatic row between Britain and Ireland.
The 23-year-old, a member of 133 Eagle Squadron, was on convoy patrol when the engine overheated eight miles from his RAF base at Eglinton – now City of Derry Airport. Realising it would crash, he radioed base with a last message: “I’m going over the side.” He then launched himself into the skies above a cold and foggy Inishowen peninsula on Sunday, November 30th, 1941.
The single-seat fighter soared down a steep, heather-covered valley before plunging into the peat.
Stars and Stripes: Dig for WWII remains might prove bittersweet for archaeologist
By Kevin Dougherty
Published: July 1, 2011
ST. VITH, Belgium — Of all the digs archaeologist Dawn Johnson has surveyed over the years, a small site on a wooded hillside in southeastern Belgium ranks as the most meaningful.
For this, she believes, is the last patch of earth her long-lost, outdoor-loving uncle glimpsed before his P-47 fighter crashed while attacking a German convoy on Christmas Day 1944. Army investigators toured the area after the war, but found neither the remains of 2nd Lt. Hilding Roy Johnson nor the wreckage, Dawn Johnson said.
Now, more than six decades after his plane was shot down, a team of Americans from the Joint Prisoners of War, Missing in Action Accounting Command is at the site searching for “Uncle Roy,” as she refers to him.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman, who sent in the above articles.
Meta note: The past month, enough archeology articles had a sustainability theme that I composed a special post, Sustainability in unexpected places: archeology 1. This post started off an irregular series on my personal blog about sustainability in unexpected places.
Physics
Science News: You haven't heard it all
Experimental cloak makes objects sound like they aren't there
By Devin Powell
Web edition : Thursday, June 30th, 2011
A new cloak that hides objects from sound could really confuse a bat trying to echolocate in a cave. Sound waves striking a bump covered by the cloak bounce back as if they hit a flat wall instead.
This sound-bending trick could smooth out the acoustics of concert hall walls. If adapted for water, it might also be useful for hiding submarines from sonar.
“The successful demonstration of a cloak that works for sound waves in air is a triumph,” says Che Ting Chan, a physicist at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, who was not involved in the research.
The acoustic cloak is made of a metamaterial, researchers at Duke University report in the June 24 Physical Review Letters. For half a decade, metamaterials have been fashioned into invisibility cloaks that bend light or other kinds of electromagnetic radiation in unnatural ways — hiding tiny objects and inspiring endless references to Harry Potter.
Chemistry
Indiana University: Product developed by IU chemistry lab recognized in 'Oscars of Innovation'
June 28, 2011
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Technology developed by Indiana University Bloomington chemist Gary Hieftje and collaborators at IU and other institutions has been named a winner in the 49th annual R&D 100 Awards, which salute the 100 most technologically significant products introduced into the marketplace over the past year.
The device, Array Detection Technology for Mass Spectrometry (ADT-MS), creates a breakthrough in analytical chemistry by allowing simultaneous detection and measurement of a wide range of chemical substances from a single sample.
The R&D 100 Awards, widely recognized as the "Oscars of Innovation," identify and celebrate top high technology products. This year's awards went to sophisticated testing equipment, innovative new materials, chemistry breakthroughs, biomedical products and consumer items, spanning industry, academia and government-sponsored research.
Energy
Univerisity of Michigan: UMTRI enlists teen drivers to study the effects of advanced vehicle-safety systems
June 30, 2011
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Forty teenage drivers from southeast Michigan will drive a fleet of specially equipped vehicles for 14 weeks beginning this summer as part of a study to test a suite of advanced vehicle-safety technologies.
The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) will conduct the study, which is jointly sponsored by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and Honda R & D Americas.
Twelve specially equipped passenger cars will be used during the 18-month research project. Each car is equipped with an integrated crash-warning system that alerts drivers when they are at risk of colliding with the vehicle in front of them, colliding with an adjacent vehicle when changing lanes or merging, traveling too fast for an upcoming curve, or inadvertently drifting from their lane.
I'm making an editorial decision to include all articles about transportation technology in energy. Why distinguish between batteries and engines and the rest of the car?
Speaking of batteries...
University of Wisconsin: Johnson Controls teams up with UW in energy storage research
by Chris Barncard
June 30, 2011
Johnson Controls, Inc., the world's leading automotive battery supplier, is helping to position Wisconsin as a worldwide leader in energy storage. The company today announced it is endowing a professorship, research labs and graduate studies in energy storage at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
"Between our scientists and the talented UW students, we expect groundbreaking projects to develop," said Alex Molinaroli, president for Power Solutions at Johnson Controls. "This as an historic, collaborative step that will unify the state's two research universities to form critical advancement in the area of energy storage devices and batteries."
The Johnson Controls Endowed Professorship in Energy Storage Research will add an expert in technology education to the UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee Colleges of Engineering and Applied Science. The person who holds this endowed chair will be responsible for maintaining cutting-edge laboratories and supervising graduate students in research at both the Madison and Milwaukee campuses. The position is expected to be filled this summer.
Purdue University: Public invited to tour Purdue's solar house
June 27, 2011
Purdue was one of 20 universities chosen in April 2010 to compete in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011. The teams, including four from outside the United States, are designing, building and operating affordable, attractive and energy-efficient solar-powered homes. The houses will be set up on the National Mall's West Potomac Park in Washington, D.C., Sept. 23 through Oct. 2.
But first, the Purdue team has been building INhome, short for Indiana Home, on campus since April. The week after the open house, team members will dismantle the house. The next week, they'll reassemble it to work out the kinks before they again dismantle it in September, truck it to Washington and reassemble it yet again.
"We haven't run into many surprises yet," said Kevin Rodgers, a graduate research assistant in the College of Technology and the project manager. "But the surprises are likely to come when we actually put it on a truck for Washington."
Discovery News: AAA to Deploy Electric Car Chargers
Analysis by Emad Hanna
Fri Jul 1, 2011 12:17 AM ET
US motorists have it in the back of their minds that if they run out of gas on the road in an isolated area they can always call on American Automobile Association to come and help them out. But what if you drive an electric vehicle (EV) and you run out of juice? Up until now, even AAA would be at a loss and the best you could have hope for is to have your car towed to the nearest compliant power outlet.
But the luck of stranded environmentally conscious EV drivers is about to change thanks to an initiative AAA is taking to equip their emergency response vehicles with charging units. The plan will be announced in full detail this July at the Plug-in 2011 conference and is expected to take effect within the next few months. The service was tested last month in a joint effort by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) and Nissan, the makers of the LEAF electric car.
Science, Space, Environment, and Energy Policy
Indiana University: Supreme Court decision on violent video games shows unusual alignment, says IU legal expert
June 27, 2011
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The U.S. Supreme Court's decision striking down a California law restricting the sale or rental of violent video games to minors presents an unusual alignment of conservative and liberal justices, according to an Indiana University Maurer School of Law expert on the First Amendment.
"The majority opinion in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association reflects the court's recent holdings that exceptions to the First Amendment are few and far between," said Professor Daniel O. Conkle. "The interesting part of this decision is the split among the justices."
...
"The interesting aspect of this case is that an unusual combination of justices lined up behind Justice Scalia," Conkle said. "Three justices from the Court's liberal wing -- Justices Ginsburg, Sotomayor, and Kagan -- joined in an opinion written by one of its most conservative justices."
Michigan State University: Group recommends stricter noise levels for Michigan wind farms
June 30, 2011
EAST LANSING, Mich. — As the call for alternative energy grows louder in Michigan and more communities consider wind farms, a group led by a pair of Michigan State University professors has issued a report calling for stricter regulations on noise levels and providing zoning guidelines for local municipalities.
MSU's Ken Rosenman and Jerry Punch, along with retired Consumers Energy engineer William MacMillan, tackle four main issues in their report on wind turbines: physical safety, shadow flicker (caused by shadows cast when sunlight hits a turbine's turning blades), conflict resolution and the most contentious issue related to turbines: noise levels.
"We strongly recommend the state of Michigan consider our recommendations in revising its 2008 guideline on the placement of onshore wind turbines," said Rosenman, the chief of MSU's Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine in the College of Human Medicine.
"We believe wind turbines will benefit our state by offering a viable source of alternative energy, but the public must be protected from risks to safety and health."
Specifically, the new report calls for noise levels not to exceed 40 decibels, much lower than the 55 decibels the state recommends now in its 2008 guideline.
University of Wisconsin: Study Finds Few Unintended Consequences of Smoke-Free Law
June 29, 2011
Madison, Wisconsin - A newly published study by researchers from University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH) reveals little evidence that Madison's smoke-free ordinance has had unintended, negative consequences. The research team also found that the law may be associated with a drop in smoking among college students.
The study, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Substance Abuse Policy Research Program, looked at some of the arguments about unintended consequences of the ordinance, which took effect in 2005. During debate on the ordinance, questions were raised about whether it would increase violence, public disturbances and student house parties.
It marks the first time researchers have evaluated the effects of a smoke-free ordinance on the number of public disturbances. The study is published in the July issue of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) journal, Preventing Chronic Disease.
"We looked at police records, results of two separate surveys of undergraduate students and community members and interviews with people who would see the consequences of the ordinance firsthand, including police, bar owners, property owners and others," said School of Medicine and Public Health researcher and study lead author Amy Williamson. Hundreds of community members and UW students participated in the surveys.
Science Education
National Parks Traveler:Archeology Talks and Programs Offered at Three Parks Coast to Coast
Submitted by Jim Burnett on June 26, 2011 - 12:08am
If you're interested in archeology, three parks are offering a variety of talks and activities that literally cover the subject from coast to coast.
First up on Tuesday, June 28 is a talk at Cape Cod National Seashore. If you're curious about what life was like for the people who lived on Cape Cod thousands of years ago, you'll find some answers in "The Early Cape Codders - Insights from Archeological Research with Frank MacManamon."
The free program about early inhabitants of Cape Cod and their lives will be offered at 7:00 p.m. on June 28 at the Salt Pond Visitor Center, at the intersection of Route 6 and Nauset Road in Eastham, Massachusetts. It's sponsored by Friends of the Cape Cod National Seashore.
TCPalm: Teachers will dig into archaeology training at Oxbow this summer
By Susan Burgess
Posted July 1, 2011 at 3:51 p.m.
PORT ST. LUCIE — Crunchy peanut butter with a layer of grape jelly slathered between two slices of bread is oh, so much more than a PB&J sandwich when you are teaching archeology to young people.
It's an edible archeology dig, as a group of St. Lucie County teachers will soon find out when they sink their teeth into some archeology training in July at the county-run Oxbow Eco-Center, an environmental learning center on St. James Drive in Port St. Lucie.
"We're going to teach them how to teach archeology in the classroom," said Gregg Harding, regional coordinator for the Florida Public Archaeology Network.
University of Sydney: Amateur archaeologist's gift to help Australia uncover its past
29 June 2011
For over 40 years, Tom Austen Brown roamed the outback in a quest to explore Australia's ancient Aboriginal past.
Now, the late solicitor and alumnus has left a major bequest to the University of Sydney for the study of prehistory - the area of interest that absorbed much of his life.
Brown, who died in 2009, left half of his estate to the University in his will, directing that the money be spent "in the discipline of Prehistory in such manner as the Senate ... may determine".
That gift totals $6.9 million, and comes on top of $1.8 million which Brown gave the University during his lifetime. With the funds, the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences will create the Tom Austen Brown Fund for Prehistory.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Indiana University: IU physics PhDs offer tutoring assistance in math, physics to area high school students
June 29, 2011
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- In summer 2010, a small group of Ph.D. students in the College of Arts and Sciences' Physics Department, led by Jake Bennett, started a summer tutoring program in mathematics and physics for local high school students.
"Last year's program was so successful that the students are running it again this summer," said Caty Pilachowski, the College's associate dean for graduate education and a professor of astronomy. "This year, the students successfully applied for external funding from the Indiana Space Grant Consortium to support the program -- they have just been awarded $3,600 to make it happen. There are more than four dozen high school students signed up for the program. I am so proud of these students for their initiative and their success."
Science Writing and Reporting
Smithsonian Magazine: The Beer Archaeologist
By analyzing ancient pottery, Patrick McGovern is resurrecting the libations that fueled civilization
By Abigail Tucker
Photographs by Landon Nordeman
Smithsonian magazine, August 2011
Uncorking the Past: The Quest for Wine, Beer, and Other Alcoholic Beverages
by Patrick E. McGovern
University of California Press, 2009
Ancient Wine: The Search for the Origins of Viniculture
by Patrick E. McGovern
Princeton University Press, 2003
It’s just after dawn at the Dogfish Head brewpub in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where the ambition for the morning is to resurrect an Egyptian ale whose recipe dates back thousands of years.
But will the za’atar—a potent Middle Eastern spice mixture redolent of oregano—clobber the soft, floral flavor of the chamomile? And what about the dried doum-palm fruit, which has been giving off a worrisome fungusy scent ever since it was dropped in a brandy snifter of hot water and sampled as a tea?
Abigail is married to
Ross Douthat, house conservative for the New York Times. I won't hold that against her. Why should I, when I posted an excerpt from Fox News in the final section?
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for this story.
Science is Cool
Fox News: Site Made Famous by Indiana Jones Yields Archaeology Treasure Trove
Published June 27, 2011
Indiana Jones came so close!
Painted, carved and inscribed thousands of years ago, hundreds of stone blocks that most likely formed a sacred temple were discovered in the ancient Egyptian capital once raided on the fictional explorer's quest for the ark, the country's archaeology society announced Monday.
The site, known as San El-Hagar or Tanis, is one of the most archaeologically rich areas of Egypt's Nile delta. It was famously portrayed as the resting place of the Ark of the Covenant, discovered by Indiana Jones in the film "Raiders of the the Lost Ark."
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for this story.
Indiana University: Indiana youth, video contest warn of prescription drug abuse dangers
June 27, 2011
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Youth from across Indiana combined creativity with public health as they created video public service announcements regarding the dangers of prescription drug abuse.
The third annual KeepRxSafe.com Video Public Service Announcement Contest drew submissions from more than 70 participants ages 12-17. Nicole Wilson and Lynn Schulze of Jeffersonville, Ind., won the contest with their 30-second video "KeepRxSafe.com."
Indiana University's Indiana Prevention Resource Center (IPRC), which is part of the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, created the KeepRxSafe.com website in 2008 to provide free information, tools and resources for Indiana residents concerning proper prescription drug use.
